standing in the old to the relay could be said was the biggest body of freshwater west of the mississippi, 800 square miles right here in the middle of california. these cotton growers from the south were chased out by the bull weasel, came last and they claim this land, this blakely and. they took the rivers and dams them and shoved to the flow to places where they wanted to go cotton. at some point they had to go find labor. a number of folks came to the basin and their nerd is played out here. quite okies, bitchiness and black okies. no one had ever written about lack okies. they came in the 40s when this cotton picker was started in the fields. it could take the middle swath of the fields in the 40s and 50s, but it could not take the edge of the rows. so the black okies were working across the machine that would eventually idle them, picking the edges of the cotton and in 10 years time they were idled. the women ended up becoming mates and housekeepers for wealthy white farmers, much like the south. and the men, where they occurred, found work. many of them were idled. the children le